RUSTON — There are several things missing in this season’s Louisiana Tech squad.

The absence of mainstay production, personnel and performance consistency and quality depth at several positions on both sides of the ball have all grown into a dark mass and have haunted the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2) at various points.

Through seven games, what’s grown into the cramped elephant in the corner of the end zone for Tech’s offense is the pronounced lack of leadership.

Without question, Tech’s still wandering about trying to find its way in the departure of three consecutive senior quarterbacks as well as all-world wide receivers and current NFL residents Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson.

The mass buildup of injuries has also played a part in the offensive staleness this season. Running backs Boston Scott and Jarred Craft, along with first-time starting quarterback redshirt sophomore J’Mar Smith, have nearly had a different offensive line combination to trust to open holes and pass protect each week, and early breakout receivers Rhashid Bonnette and Adrian Hardy have missed games due to injuries.

“One of the hardest things for me through seven games has been the movement each and every week,” Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz. “It seems like every week we have a new team. I’m ready to get some stability where we can get some of these guys back and start to grow instead of constantly changing. I think the ones that have been on the field have done a nice job, but we don’t have enough of it right now. We need more and we’ve got to get some guys more comfortable in that role.”

Seeing a different mix of 10 other faces out on the field has caused a vacuum, sucking dry what was a saturated huddle of solid offensive performances and leaving behind apprehension and inconsistency.

Those disparities rose to a head this past Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium as the Bulldogs stood idly by as Southern Miss snatched an 11-point lead with 4:08 remaining to force overtime, 27-27. By that point, the Golden Eagles, who had won two straight against their rivals, captured all momentum. Smith threw an ill-advised pass through the heart of a zone defense that ended up being picked in the first overtime and the offense lost yardage on its drive in double-overtime, trailing, 34-27.

Normally, players look to the quarterback for leadership. This is Smith’s first time being the full-time starter at the all-important position, but one could argue that you’re no longer a “new” starter eight games in. After the Southern Miss game, Holtz told reporters the sophomore signal caller turned down a more simplistic offensive approach at halftime and that he was overthinking things. Smith was hurried once and sacked just twice, so the sophomore didn’t face a lot of pressure, he just doesn’t have full trust in his receivers.

Since junior Teddy Veal has moved inside to slot receiver, he’s had at least six catches in three of five games. For all other wideouts, Bonnette has the lone other six-catch performance.

Scott almost hit the century mark in rushing yards in the first half against a Southern Miss rush defense that was ranked 17th in the country coming in. The senior ended up with 106 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, but that was the first time Louisiana Tech’s had a 100-yard runner from a backfield that was expected to certainly produce due to experience of Scott and Craft, the latter a 1,000-yard rusher in 2016.

“We just have to be more consistent, that’s all there is to it,” Scott said Tuesday. “Carlos and Trent, those guys have gone off to play at the next level, and the reason that is to be great, you have to do the little things consistently and the biggest things is under pressure. I think we have more than enough talent to do that, we just have to continue to focus on little things, be more consistent in fundamentals and that’s what’s going to get us over the hump.”

Louisiana Tech’s road trip this weekend to Houston to take on Rice, which has won one game this season against winless UTEP, in a crucial Conference USA contest could be just what the team needed, after dropping its last two conference games in heartbreaking fashion.

The Bulldogs defense won’t be on the field for 98 plays and will give the offense ample opportunities -- the Owls have scored 39 total points in their last five games. With a game like this, the offense needs to take steps in establishing leaders.